


One to the Power of Five

by Brumeier



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Ancient Technology, Bisexual Character, Clones, First Kiss, First Meetings, M/M, Mutual Pining, Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 13:10:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14081625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: Atlantis isn't ready for more than one Rodney McKay, but that's what it's getting anyway.





	One to the Power of Five

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SherlockianSyndromes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlockianSyndromes/gifts).



Rodney woke slowly, his room still mostly shrouded in shadows. He liked to lay in bed for a little while in the morning, his mind already going on several different tracks as he tried to anticipate what his day was going to be like. Life in Pegasus being what it was, the chance of things going off the rails was high. Sometimes he – 

Something brushed against Rodney’s leg and he practically levitated off the bed with what might’ve been called a girlish scream if anyone had been there to hear it. Which turned out to be the case.

“What the fuck?” The man in Rodney’s bed clutched the sheets to his chest. His naked chest.

Rodney’s mouth worked but he couldn’t form any words. He pinched himself, hard, but he was very obviously awake.

“Is this some kind of joke?” the man in the bed asked. “Because it’s not very funny.”

“No joke,” Rodney managed to say. 

He exchanged a panicked look with…himself. Because the man in Rodney’s bed was Rodney.

*o*o*o*

**One Week Earlier**

“If I was back in Atlantis I’d have figured out a way to rescue us by now.”

“Do you even listen to yourself?” Sheppard asked with a sigh.

They were in yet another cell on yet another planet full of angry villagers, and Rodney wondered when that had become the norm for them. Some days he questioned why he still went on offworld missions.

“Do you need a Power Bar? How’s your blood sugar?”

Well, that was the main reason Rodney hadn’t left the team: Major John Sheppard, Rodney’s team leader, best friend, and secret object of his affections. Rodney had the suspicion he’d follow Sheppard wherever he led, even if it was off a cliff. It was a little terrifying.

“I’m fine. I’d be better if Zelenka was as smart as I am.”

“Ego much, Doc?” 

Rodney glared at Ford, who was leaning against the back wall of the cell with his arms crossed.

“It’s not bragging if it’s the truth.”

“None of this is helping,” Teyla pointed out.

Everyone lapsed back into silence. And then Rodney’s teammates simultaneously went from casual posture to coiled readiness, which was the only indication he had that their captors were returning.

Without any forethought or plan, Rodney, Teyla and Ford moved between Sheppard and the Telun; as the strongest gene carrier he was the one the hostiles usually wanted. But, like everything else in their lives, there was no counting on things going to plan.

The Telun guards pulled Rodney out of the cell, and he almost had a chance to escape in the scuffle that followed as Sheppard lunged for the door.

“You don’t want him! You want me!” Sheppard shouted.

Rodney would be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified, but he put on a brave face for his team.

“They won’t hurt the smartest guy on this backwater planet,” he said, sticking out his chin. “Even these idiots have to know how valuable I am.”

“Do not antagonize them,” Teyla warned.

“Keep your mouth shut, McKay,” Sheppard said at the same time.

Rodney bit his lip and tried to keep from talking as he was roughly led out of the building they used for prisoners and across an empty stone courtyard; the village was eerily empty. But when he was nervous he tended to babble, and he’d long since passed nervous. What if they wanted to use him as a human sacrifice? Or torture him? Or marry him off to someone’s daughter?

The building opposite the jail was the fanciest one in the village, constructed of smoothly polished stone and guarded by several Telun wearing leather armor. That didn’t bode well.

“I really am the smartest person here,” Rodney said. “If you need something fixed, I can do it. Probably. Or, or…activating tech. I can do that, too. Not as good as the Major but still serviceable. Very serviceable.”

It was creepy the way the Telun didn’t speak to him or acknowledge him beyond the hands clamped around his arms as they propelled him inside the building. Which seemed to be some kind of shrine, and Rodney perked up a bit at that. Maybe they had a ZedPM!

There was an altar in the middle of the room, draped in a blue cloth and adorned with a promising-looking stone box. Behind the altar was a man in loose-fitting robes and a hood.

“You have come,” he said in a hushed voice.

“Yes, well, I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“Release him,” the hooded man said. 

The guards immediately let go of Rodney’s arms and took a step back. They were still a little too close for comfort, or escape attempts, but Rodney scanned the room looking for exits the way Sheppard would have done. There were several other doors but no telling where they led.

“This is a most special day. The Ancestors sent to me a vision. I must present you with our most sacred of gifts.”

“You want to give me something?” _Please be a ZedPM. Please be a ZedPM_. “Why all the man-handling? I assure you I’d have come peacefully. Can you let my team go? We’re all friends here, right? People don’t give gifts to their enemies.”

“This gift is for you alone.”

The hooded man beckoned him forward, and Rodney stepped up to the altar. How amazing would it be to just be handed the power source that Atlantis needed? If it had enough charge they could dial back to the SGC, get reinforcements. And more coffee.

The box was opened with more reverence than Rodney thought was necessary, and he tried not to let his disappointment show when the item inside most definitely wasn’t a ZedPM. The hooded man pulled out a long, cylindrical metal tube, holding it very carefully with both hands. 

“Only the Chosen may receive this gift. Hold out your hands.”

Rodney hesitated. He could tell it was Ancient from the faint buzz in the back of his head, but he couldn’t tell what it was used for; his gene wasn’t that strong. What if there was something bad inside, like that smoke thing that almost killed Ford? Or more killer nanites?

The hooded man frowned. “Do you reject this gift?”

It didn’t take Teyla reminding him for Rodney to know that rejecting the tube would be bad form. He had his team to think about, after all. Maybe once he took possession of the damn thing they could all get back to Atlantis.

“No, no! Not rejecting anything. Hand it over.” 

Rodney obediently held his hands out and the hooded man very carefully reached across the altar and gave him the metal tube.

“So, what’s this supposed to –”

All thought went out of his head as his hands spasmed on the tube before clamping down so hard his knuckles turned white. Pain raced up his arms, down the length of his body, and it was so much so fast that Rodney couldn’t speak, couldn’t scream, couldn’t do more than pant tiny, quick breaths.

His field of vision darkened, narrowed, tunneled. He was out cold before he even knew he was falling.

He woke up in the infirmary, his team sitting vigil. Sheppard had his feet up on the bed while he worked one of the Sudoku puzzles Rodney had made for him. Teyla was dozing and Ford was reading a book.

“Hey, buddy,” Sheppard said, voice hushed. He sat up in his chair. “Ford, go tell the doc that McKay’s awake.”

“Welcome back,” Ford whispered with a grin. 

They were presumably keeping their voices down so as not to wake Teyla, since there wasn’t anyone else in the infirmary.

“What happened?” Rodney rasped. Sheppard gave him some tepid water to drink through a straw.

“I was kind of hoping you could tell me. The guards brought you back, unlocked the cell, and left. No explanation.”

He looked angry, and Rodney felt the irrational need to apologize. He drank more water instead. And then Carson was there to look him over, tutting and tsking and generally sounding like a disapproving mother.

Rodney explained what had happened, and Carson ran some tests, but there was nothing to show what the Ancient pain tube had done to him. Maybe nothing. Maybe the pain part had been all there was. Some kind of endurance test, possibly? That seemed to make Sheppard even more angry, and Carson shooed him and Ford and Teyla out of the infirmary so Rodney could get some proper rest. 

“We’ll keep an eye on things,” Carson said. “If you notice any unusual symptoms, even something that seems insignificant, you tell me straight away.”

But there were no symptoms, and the next day Rodney got back to work. Keeping Atlantis afloat and functioning was a full-time job and he had to spread himself pretty thin to keep things on an even keel.

If only there was more of him to go around.

*o*o*o*

Rodney and his doppelgänger took separate routes to the infirmary to avoid causing a scene, though it was satisfying to see the gob-smacked expression on Carson’s face when he was confronted by two identical Rodney McKays.

“You said to let you know if I experienced any symptoms,” Rodney said. “Here’s one.”

“So I see. And how did this come about?”

“I woke up and he was in my bed,” Rodney and his double said at the same time. They looked at each other in mutual consternation.

“ _He_ was in _my_ bed,” Rodney clarified. “I still had my pajamas on and this guy was…well, he wasn’t wearing any.”

“That’s hardly proof.”

“Gentlemen,” Carson said, holding up his hands. “I’ll need to run some tests.”

Rodney and his double changed into scrubs – Rodney into blue, Double into maroon – and Carson gave them special designations so he’d know who was who. Rodney glared at _Thing One_ etched in marker on the back of his hand. Everyone was a comedian.

Carson’s staff dealt with the surprise of two McKays with remarkable equanimity. Copious blood samples were taken, full-body scans were done, run-of-the-mill physical examinations were completed. Heightmeyer was even called in for some neurological testing. It wasn’t long before the entirety of senior command was crowded into the infirmary.

“Stop staring at me like that,” Rodney snapped at Sheppard. “I’m still me.”

“Is that true, Dr. Beckett?” Elizabeth asked. “What did the tests show?”

Carson nodded. “This is the original Rodney, if you will. The other is a clone.”

The clone was in Carson’s office with Heightmeyer, presumably trying to process the fact that he was a mere copy.

“How did this happen?” Sheppard asked. He was still looking at Rodney like he’d grown an extra head. Which…well.

“It had to be that thing the Telun made me touch,” Rodney said. “It’s the only strange thing I’ve come in contact with recently.”

Elizabeth looked grave. “Are we sure this wasn’t the work of nanites? I know we sealed that lab, but is it possible there’s another source for them in the city?”

“No nanites were detected on any of the scans or in the bloodwork,” Carson said. “I’m inclined to agree with Rodney. The Ancient device seems the most likely candidate.”

“Great,” John said. “What are we going to do with two McKays?”

“No, see, but this is perfect!” Rodney licked his thumb and tried to rub _Thing One_ off his hand. “Now there can still be one of me in the city when I go offworld with you! This is exactly what we needed!”

“You’re assuming we can trust him.” John still looked ill-at-ease despite the good news.

“He’s me. Of course you can trust him.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “Just to be on the safe side I think we should keep a close eye on him. We don’t know what the Telun had in mind when they bestowed this…gift.”

John nodded. “I’ll get someone assigned to him ASAP.”

“Great. Can I get some breakfast now? I’m starving.”

The double came out of Carson’s office looking sullen. “Can we eat now?”

John rubbed a hand over his face. “Not sure the universe is ready for two of you, McKay.”

*o*o*o*

The human capacity to accept change really was remarkable. After only a week or so, it was like Deuce had been part of the expedition from day one. He had his own living quarters, his own uniform, and his own work schedule. Also his own bodyguard, in the person of Captain Guzman, which was the only way people knew which Rodney was which a lot of the time.

Rodney had suggested sewing a big 2 on Deuce’s uniform jacket, but that had been summarily rejected. As had the nickname, but that had stuck anyway. At least they both agreed that Deuce was better than Meredith; neither one of them wanted _that_ name making the rounds.

Really, it was nice having someone around on his same level. Rodney wondered if it would be considered nepotism to make Deuce his second in command instead of Zelenka.

The best part of having a clone was the confidence that Rodney was leaving the city in good hands while he was offworld looking for ZedPMs with his team. There was something oddly comforting in knowing that even if the worst happened, there’d still be a Rodney McKay carrying on.

“Let’s go get some dinner,” Rodney said. He and Deuce had spent all day working on the Ancient database, trying to devise a better searching system so that maybe they could actually find useful information while it was still useful. Like making new ZedPMs.

“I have plans,” Deuce said.

Rodney stared at him. “Plans? What plans? How do you have plans?”

“Movie night,” Guzman said. He’d been sitting in the corner with a datapad all day and Rodney didn’t even want to guess what he might be doing with it. “D’s commentary is hilarious. He’s like the Atlantis version of MST3K.”

Deuce shrugged like it didn’t matter, but Rodney could tell he was secretly pleased. And Rodney was…what? Not jealous, precisely. He had his own movie nights with his team. But Deuce was his clone, and no way any version of Rodney McKay would be willingly invited to hang out with a bunch of Marines.

“How did this even happen?”

Guzman stood up and stretched. “He’s a pretty cool guy once you get to know him.” 

“You do realize we’re the same person.”

“You do realize I’m standing right here,” Deuce said crossly. “And you should check your sources, because we stopped being the same person the moment I found out I was your clone. Let’s go, Captain.”

Guzman shrugged at Rodney and trailed out of the lab after Deuce.

Rodney tapped his radio. “Carson! I need to talk to you!”

*o*o*o*

Two Rodneys were beneficial to the expedition. Three was really pushing it.

“What is this? A comedy bit?” Rodney asked when he woke up next to yet another naked version of himself. “Every few weeks a new me pops up?”

The new clone was less self-conscious about his nudity. And other things as well.

“You know, we’re in pretty good shape. Must be all that offworld exercise.” The new Rodney gave original Rodney a once over. “You ever think about it? You know. Hooking up with yourself?”

“What? No! Put some clothes on!”

Okay, so maybe Rodney had briefly entertained the idea. He knew he was good in bed, and ever since Deuce had been around he also knew firsthand that he had a spectacular ass. But having sex with himself would be a little too much like having sex with his sister and that was just…no. Very much no.

And so Trey joined the expedition, got his own military shadow in the person of Sergeant Lancaster, and started working in the labs. Only this time Rodney got the go ahead to at least put names on the uniforms so people would know who they were talking to. 

Although Deuce had started wearing his hair differently and spending all his free time with Guzman and his buddies, so telling them apart was getting easier.

“I do not understand why a new copy was created,” Teyla said.

The team was eating lunch on the balcony and looking in at the Mess, where Deuce was yukking it up at a table full of Marines and Trey was…what the hell was he doing?

“What the hell is he doing?” Rodney asked.

“I believe he is whispering in Dr. Kusanagi’s ear.”

Dr. Kusanagi didn’t look too happy about it, either, and whatever she said to Trey had him quickly moving on.

“That one’s a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen,” John said. “Can’t you talk to him?”

“He won’t listen to me.” Rodney picked morosely at his food. “I have one clone who’s way more popular than me and one that’s a walking hard-on, and I don’t understand how we’re all so different.”

“You’re only identical on a cellular level, Doc,” Ford said amiably. “Doc Beckett explained it, remember? You’re like brothers, all raised in the same house by the same parents but turning out completely different from each other.”

“That’s a gross over-simplification,” Rodney snapped, but his heart really wasn’t in it.

“You are still my favorite Rodney,” Teyla said with a grin. She patted his arm. “You are irreplaceable.”

“Is he hitting on Dr. von Langen?” Ford asked.

Sheppard choked on his turkey sandwich and Rodney’s eyes widened in panic. Fucking Trey was going to out him!

“I’ll be right back!” He scrambled out of his seat, lunch forgotten. “Trey! I need to talk to you!”

*o*o*o*

Carson had a theory about the clones. He postulated that each one was Rodney with another layer peeled away, each version freer in his self-expression than the last. What that meant for Rodney was each iteration was less focused on the actual work of keeping Atlantis functioning. And if they weren’t working on solving problems, what was the point of even having them?

Not to mention that the McKay population explosion was a drain on resources that were already stretched pretty thin. Even with Dru spending most of his time with the Athosians, he and Quin and Trey and Deuce were additional mouths to feed and bodies to clothe. If a fifth clone popped up Rodney was pretty sure he was going to lose what little was left of his mind.

Sheppard related the problem to some old movie about clones, suggesting that one good copy was all they could get and the additional clones were like old cassette tapes that had been recorded over too many times.

“We need to go back to the Telun,” Rodney said.

“They were not very kind to us the last time,” Teyla reminded him. As if he could forget the pain from holding that Ancient tube of cloning horrors.

“No, but we know what to expect this time. And if we don’t find a way to reverse this so-called gift there’ll be more McKays in the Pegasus galaxy than Wraith.”

“What do you mean, reverse?” Deuce was the only clone who’d joined the meeting in the conference room, and he didn’t look very happy. “I thought we just wanted to stop it. I’m a person, you know. Not a robot you can just disassemble.”

Guzman echoed the sentiment, which wasn’t surprising since Rodney was pretty sure his clone and the Captain were sleeping together. At least they were being discreet about it. Trey had hit on just about every member of the expedition at least once, and Sheppard had caught him with his tongue in Chuck’s ear. So much for keeping the bisexual thing on the down low.

“We can’t have an army of McKays running around Atlantis,” Sheppard said. “It’s hard enough just wrangling one.”

Both Rodney and Deuce sputtered indignantly at that. Of all the clones, Deuce was the most useful. Yes, he’d been hanging around the Marines too much and was starting to emulate them in really disturbing ways, but he still had that McKay brain churning away inside his skull.

“I agree with Dr. McKay,” Elizabeth said. “Our best shot at stopping the process is to revisit the Telun.”

“Let’s see them try and lock us up this time!” Ford said with far too much enthusiasm.

“Should we bring the other McKays with us?” Teyla asked. “Their presence may prove necessary.”

Rodney resented the look on Sheppard’s face, as if a ‘jumper full of McKays was the worst thing he could imagine. It wasn’t like Rodney was all that eager to share close quarters with his duplicates. Everyone else was acclimating but he still found it disconcerting and weird. He didn’t spend much time with the duplicates, with the exception of Deuce.

“No,” Deuce said. “I’m not going. I don’t care if you churn out a thousand new Rodney McKays, I’m not taking the chance that you’re going to reduce me to a pile of dead cells. I may not have rights, but I’ll be damned if I just let you take me away to die.”

He had his arms crossed and his chin up, and Rodney knew Deuce meant what he said. He wouldn’t go quietly, and Rodney wasn’t sure they could ethically force him.

“Who said you don’t have rights?” Elizabeth asked.

“Well, I’m not exactly a person, am I? I don’t exist legally, on any kind of paperwork that matters. But hey. What happens in Atlantis stays in Atlantis, right? It’s not like we have anyone to tell.”

Rodney hadn’t expected Deuce to still be so bitter, especially since he seemed to be enjoying his new life. But he supposed he could understand where the man was coming from. If they re-established contact with Earth, what would they make of Deuce and the others? What future could they possibly have in a world that was only supposed to have one Rodney McKay?

“You’re right,” Elizabeth said. “And I apologize. It was never my intention for you to feel less than a valuable member of this expedition. This whole situation is a little out of my purview, but I promise to rectify that as soon as possible.”

“What are you going to do?” Rodney asked. “Forge a birth certificate? You can’t do that. Can you?”

“What happens in Atlantis,” Elizabeth replied with a grin. 

Deuce ducked his head, blushing. “Thanks,” he mumbled. Guzman patted him on the back.

“So what’s the plan?” Ford asked.

*o*o*o*

“Can I fly the ‘jumper on the way back?” Quin bounced up and down on the cargo bay bench. “I want to remember doing it as me.”

“Why do we have to be here?” Dru asked. “Halling was sharing a traditional Athosian song with me and I was finally getting the melody down.”

“You’re here because it’s important. And because we don’t have room in the city for one more of me.” Rodney input the gate address in the ‘jumper’s DHD.

“Then why isn’t Deuce here? He’s part of this too.”

“Elizabeth needed him to stay back and monitor. Just in case.”

“Bullshit,” Trey said, coughing into his hand.

“We all know he’s your favorite,” Dru said. “Which is stupid, because we’re all essentially the same. Just because I choose not to spend all my time in the lab doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I can do the work. I just like the music better.”

Rodney resisted the urge to jump out the back hatch, but it was a close thing.

“I know you can do the work. I’m not trying to punish anyone.”

“Yeah, right,” Trey said. “I’ve barely had the chance to lose my virginity. Again.”

“Don’t make me come back there!” Sheppard said. “I will turn this ‘jumper around!”

“I do not believe you will be able to change direction once we have crossed through the event horizon.” 

“He was being facetious,” Rodney explained to Teyla. “That’s the kind of thing parents on Earth say to their children on long, hell-inspired road trips.”

“I guess that makes you the mom,” Trey said. 

“Two thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.” Ford turned in his seat and glared at the clones. “Prime or not prime?”

Rodney knew Ford didn’t have the answer for that, but as a distraction it proved useful. The clones started playing the game with each other and he enjoyed a moment of sweet relief. Also, there was a vein throbbing on the side of Sheppard’s head that Rodney had never seen before.

“Maybe I should just close the bulkhead door,” Sheppard suggested.

“I do not think that will be necessary, Major,” Teyla said. She sounded disapproving. “We wish them to help us.”

“Do me a favor, McKay. Don’t touch anything this time.”

The Telun turned out to be a lot friendlier when faced with two fully-loaded ‘jumpers and a squad of Marines armed to the teeth. They were immediately taken to meet with the man in the hood, the presumed elder of the village.

“These guys are really going all out with the leather look,” Trey said appreciatively. “Don’t you think Shep –”

“No!” Rodney hissed. “Don’t ever finish that sentence! In fact, scrub that image from your mind completely.”

Of course, now Rodney couldn’t get it out of his. Sheppard decked out in leather armor would look pretty badass, it was true. He supposed he should be thankful that the clones had kept their distance from Sheppard. Their minds worked the same, but what about their emotions? Rodney hadn’t asked. Did they all feel something for the Major, the way he did? Was Deuce with Guzman because he knew he couldn’t be with Sheppard?

“Why have you returned?” the hooded man asked. He was right where Rodney had last seen him, behind the altar. “Your aggression is a great insult.”

“Yes, well, consider us even then,” Rodney said. “That so-called gift you gave me the last time I was here. I need you to turn it off.”

“Has it not been beneficial to you, as foretold?”

“No, it has not!” Rodney gestured to Trey, Dru and Quin. “I don’t need any more of me.”

“Do you have a means of shutting down this gift?” Teyla asked, far more politely.

The hooded man shook his head. “My people only protect the gift. We are unable to use it.”

“Not gene carriers then,” Sheppard muttered. “Look, why don’t we take that off your hands. You said it was a gift, right? Our people can figure out how to use it.”

“It is our solemn task to look after this gift,” the hooded man said. “I can bestow the benefits held within but I cannot allow you to take it.”

“May we examine it?” Teyla asked. “In your presence, of course.”

The hooded man hesitated, but he produced the box and the Ancient device. Sheppard stepped forward, eyes narrowed and head tipped to the side as if he were listening to something. Rodney knew he was getting a more comprehensive read off the device and waited impatiently for the verdict.

“You have to hold it again,” Sheppard said apologetically, though his eyes were flinty and that vague aura of anger was surrounding him again. “That’s the only way to reverse what it did to you the last time.”

Rodney remembered the intense pain and took an involuntary step backwards, bumping into Quin.

“This place is cool,” Quin said, looking around with wide eyes.

Rodney shuddered to think what a fifth clone might come out like, and knew he had to suffer through the pain to stop more copies of himself from being created. Eventually there’d be some kind of feral, primal McKay, and he for sure didn’t want to see what that looked like.

“I’ll do it.” 

“Are you sure?” Teyla asked. 

“I just said I’d do it,” he snapped. “Can we just get it over with?”

“What about us?” Dru asked. “What’s going to happen to us?”

Rodney wasn’t a hundred percent sure, so he lied. “Probably nothing. It’ll just stop me from throwing off more of you.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Trey said.

“I also don’t have a better option, so unless you’ve been using your libido as a smoke screen and actually have something useful to offer, this is what we’re going to do.”

The clones huddled together, and Rodney found himself hoping that they’d be okay. They were annoying, no question, but they were also versions of himself. Ford had said they were like brothers and Rodney was surprised to feel that he was beginning to agree.

The hooded man removed the cylinder from the box and Rodney winced, pulling back even as he extended his hands. The pain would come any second, and it would be bad, it would be bad, it would be –

Just like last time the pain struck suddenly and powerfully, Rodney’s hands clenching down on the cylinder. Unlike last time, he could feel hands on him, supporting him, as the pain raced up his body and down his arms.

“Doc!” Ford shouted in alarm.

“Hold on, McKay,” Sheppard said, his mouth right next to Rodney’s ear.

Rodney gasped for breath as his vision darkened and narrowed and eventually faded to black.

*o*o*o*

“You know, it’s too bad you didn’t have just one more clone,” Sheppard said. He and Rodney were out on the East Pier watching the sun go down. “We could’ve called him Dr. Sexy.”

Rodney rolled his eyes. “That’s the best you could come up with?”

“Hey, that’s pretty good.”

They were ostensibly celebrating the end of the McKay clones and the end of rationing. Elizabeth and Teyla had negotiated hard with the Telun and had eventually gotten them to relinquish the Ancient device. The science team had done a thorough examination and evaluation of it and found a way to use the duplication technology in a more beneficial way. Namely, to create more food.

Rodney was secretly thrilled to have a rudimentary food replicator on Atlantis, because he was a huge Star Trek nerd.

“You think the other McKays will want real names now?”

“Maybe. I wouldn’t blame them if they did.”

Elizabeth had drafted some documents that would make the clones legal citizens of Atlantis, with full rights and benefits. There was no telling what that might mean if they ever contacted Earth again, but Rodney was pretty sure the rest of the expedition would fight for them. Even Trey, whose only thought ever seemed to be about his dick and what he might do with it.

“I had an interesting conversation with Quin today.”

Rodney snorted. “I bet you did. Did he tell you how cool you are? Or ask you for more flying lessons?”

“He did compliment my hair,” Sheppard said sheepishly. “He also said he wished I wasn’t off limits. You know what he meant by that?”

Rodney chugged the rest of his ruus wine and promptly started choking on it. Sheppard thumped him on the back until Rodney got his breath back.

“You know Quin,” he said weakly, throat sore from coughing. “He’s the crazy one.”

“Maybe. But Trey made a similar comment the other day. What did you tell them, McKay?”

“Nothing!” Rodney protested. “Just that they shouldn’t bother you, you know? You have enough to do without a bunch of clones harassing you every minute and I didn’t want them –”

Sheppard leaned over and kissed Rodney, effectively cutting off his nervous babbling. Rodney immediately kissed back, never one to miss a prime opportunity.

“Um…” he said when John pulled back. “What? You do know I’m me, right?”

“Well aware.”

“Then why?”

Sheppard shrugged. “I guess I was jealous. It’s stupid.”

“Jealous?” Rodney tried to work that out but his renowned intellect was having a hard time getting past _Sheppard kissed me!_ “Of me?”

Sheppard gave him a look. “No, not of you. Of Guzman.”

“Oh. You’re not supposed to know about that.”

“I didn’t ask. He didn’t tell. But it’s pretty obvious.”

“Deuce and Guzman made you want to be with me?”

“They made me want to stop _not_ wanting to be with you.”

“I think you had too much wine,” Rodney said. He knew Sheppard had trouble expressing himself sometimes, but this was even more incomprehensible than usual.

Sheppard sighed. “It didn’t seem like a good idea. People would talk. Things would be weird. But it’s not weird for them. So maybe it wouldn’t be weird for us.”

Rodney finally got it. Sheppard had been secretly thinking about him, just the way Rodney had secretly been thinking about Sheppard. He’d always thought DADT was a stupid American rule, especially out in the far-flung reaches of another galaxy. Who in Pegasus would care? They were making their own way, their own rules.

And maybe Rodney had been a little jealous of Deuce and Guzman too.

He slipped his hand around the back of Sheppard’s neck and pulled him in for another kiss. The way Sheppard kind of melted against him made Rodney’s chest constrict, just a little. This wasn’t about being horny or scratching an itch. It was more than that. 

Rodney couldn’t wait to find out just how much more.

**Two Years Later**

Jeannie Miller was beamed down into the Atlantis Gate Room, where all of her newly discovered brothers waited for her.

“Oh my god!” she said, putting her hand to her mouth. “Look at all of you!”

She hugged each one in turn, unexpectedly near tears. They were just as Mer had described them, each one obviously a McKay but also so clearly different from each other. 

Deuce looked more like a Marine than a scientist, muscled and lean, his hair buzzed short.

Trey seemed comfortable with himself in a way that Mer never had been, all easy grin and loose-limbs.

Dru, the musician of the group, was a little shy and wore his hair longer, the way Mer had in his University days.

Quin was bouncing on his toes, all excitement and child-like wonderment. He lifted Jeannie clear off her feet.

“It’s so great to see you again!”

They all had memories of her, of course. Mer’s memories. Jeannie was hoping they’d have a chance to make some new ones together, memories that were theirs alone. She wanted to spend time with each of them individually, get to know them better.

Finding out she had four new brothers was just one of many revelations Mer had visited upon her with when he showed up unannounced on her doorstep. Wormholes! Aliens! Mer in a committed relationship with an Air Force Colonel!

“This is amazing,” Jeannie said as Mer took her to the labs to show her around Project Arcturus. “So many of them!”

“We’re just lucky we figured out how to turn the cloning off,” Mer said. “Five McKays are more than enough.”

“Don’t you mean six?” Jeannie asked. “I may be a Miller, but I’m still all McKay.”

“Six, then. But trust me, the universe can't handle any more McKays,” Mer said.

And then they met Rod.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** I wanted to write something for my new friend SherlockianSyndromes on her birthday. I started one fic, and then this idea popped into my head and took over my life. I hope you like it! And that you had a great birthday!
> 
> Also, I know you're still only in season one of the series but I couldn't resist tacking on that _McKay and Mrs. Miller_ epilogue, just for parallel universe Rodney McKay. All the Rodneys! LOL!
> 
> Special thanks to nagi_schwarz for her partial beta and support!


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